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Counterfeiting and piracy harm society in many ways that are not easily understood. For example, a small factory manufacturing counterfeit goods might generate a few jobs, but these are not sustainable. The factory may close down without notice, employees have no job security, no workers rights and no benefits such as health and insurance. Moreover, these illegal jobs do not contribute to the fabric of the local economy, which undermines development in the long run.
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This page is a special summary of cases that reveal where counterfeiting and piracy have undermined and limited lawful employment opportunities. Each reference has been extracted directly from a story archived in the BASCAP Case Study Database. For further research, the full article can be found by clicking on the associated endnote.
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Piracy costs Indian entertainment industry $4 billion each year - India, 7 March 2008
- ...piracy cost the Indian entertainment industry over $4 billion annually in addition to over 800,000 jobs; 767
East Africa counterfeiting may lead to major job losses - Kenya, 1 November 2007
- Kenya’s largest manufacturing firms claimed it may soon be forced to lay off up to half of its employees in the face of massive counterfeiting of its products in Uganda and Tanzania; 669
The true cost of piracy - USA, 10 October 2007
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Up to $58 billion is thought to be lost each year through music, film & software piracy and as many as 373,000 US jobs; 729
Jobs created from reduction in piracy - Pakistan, 22 August 2007
- A 10% reduction in Pakistan’s piracy rates could generate over 30,000 jobs according to the License Compliance Manager from Microsoft-Pakistan; 714
Piracy now worth 20% GDP - Mexico, 1 December 2006
- Piracy in the apparel industry alone is responsible for the loss of 400,000 jobs and $340 million; 624
Counterfeits force Zippo to layoff workers - USA, 28 September 2006
- 15 percent of the work force of Zippo Manufacturing Co, the maker of Zippo lighters, are being laid off because fakes of its genuine lighters are damaging the bottom line; 600
Eastman Machines Victimized by Chinese Counterfeiters - China, 26 June 2006
- "Our workforce here in Buffalo has gone from 120 UAW members to 55," Stevenson said. "We basically lost 50 percent of our business to these cloned machines."; 462.
Unravelling software piracy myths - Malaysia, 25 May 2006
- "According to 2005 IDC Economic Impact Study, a mere 10-point drop in piracy levels in Malaysia from 61% to 51% over four years would add another 5,451 jobs; 440.
CEOs urge EU to step up fight against fakes – EU, 27 January 2006
- ”Unfair competition from counterfeiting and piracy worldwide drains billions annually from the ‘virtuous circle’ of economic growth that intellectual property generates, and costs the EU more than 100 000 in lost jobs.” ; 5.
Market flooded with 50 million counterfeit music or film disks - Spain, 1 December 2005
- In the past 18 months pirates have flooded the Spanish market with 50 million counterfeit music or film discs, destroying 1,200 jobs and leading to the closure of 85 small businesses in the sector.; 79.
Fifty workers at a ceramics factory in Scotland face losing their jobs because of counterfeits - UK, 1 February 2005
- Dunoon Ceramics, which was established in 1973 in Dunoon, the largest town in Argyll, is considering closing its factory there and operating from its headquarters in Staffordshire, England, because of the effect counterfeits have had on sales; 173.
Pump and Dump – The Importation of Imitation Products into the US, a Company’s View - USA, 1 May 2004
- Jeff Gorman, president and CEO of Gorman-Rupp, which has a turnover of $200 million and a staff of 1,000, said that copies of its products had cost the company sales of some $5 million and caused the loss of 25 jobs; 265.
30,000 Jobs Lost Each Year in France Through Counterfeiting – France, 1 May 2004
- Counterfeit goods are costing France some 30,000 jobs each year through lost sales suffered by affected companies, the French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told business leaders at a meeting last month aimed at tackling the problem' ; 266.
The Cost of Counterfeiting in Australia – Australia, 1 December 2003
- Crackdown on counterfeiting could result in the creation of an extra 400 full and part-time jobs in the toy, business software and electronic games industries; 409.
Counterfeit Car Par Conference – 1 November 2003
- Counterfeit car parts are costing the auto industry $12 billion a year and have resulted in the loss of at least 210,000 jobs worldwide since 1995; 414.
Software piracy caused thousands of lost job opportunities in 1997– USA, 2 November 1998
- In 1997, software piracy caused the loss of an estimated 1,947 jobs and more than $185 million in combined lost wages, tax revenues and retail sales, according to International Planning & Research Corp. (IPR) of Redmond; 384
Loss of jobs through counterfeiting – EU, 1 April 1985
- European MPs in London have recently claimed that during the past 10 years 100,000 jobs have been lost in Common Market Countries; 397.
Unfair Foreign Trade Practices: Automotive Parts and Accessories – EU, 1 February 1984
- The Automotive Parts and Accessories Association has calculated that each billion dollars of value added in automotive parts and accessories represents about 29,000 jobs; 547.
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